Loki’s Double Knee Surgery

Loki is just a 6-month-old Siberian Husky puppy. At 5 months he was diagnosed with severe luxating patella in both knees. A stage 3 in his left and stage 4 (the worst) in his right. In other words, his knee caps are almost always out of place, specifically sitting on the outside of his knees. That picture is where Loki spends most of is time. Laying over the floor vent on his pillow. We can barely take him on walks anymore, spends 90% of his time sitting down. He is very slow to get up the stairs because he has to hop up each one. He is constantly laying down while playing with our older husky, Miya, and just bites at her feet as he doesn’t have the strength in his back legs to stand up and play. He used to chase balls and toys when we threw them, now he just watches Miya because it’s too much of a pain for him to get up and run. Any time he lays down he grunts and sometimes he will sit down and whimper, we were told this is from the pain. This is absolutely heartbreaking to me, for any dog of any age, but the fact he is so young is what makes it so hard. He thinks this is normal and doesn’t get to experience the life a normal puppy should have.

The surgeon said his case is not common since his knee caps are sitting on the outside. Most luxating patella are medial (the knee caps slip inside). The first round of surgery will consist of tightening the ligaments on the inside of the knee cap and loosening the ligaments on the outside in order to line the knee cap up. Since he is so young, that is all surgery will consist of without doing any damage to growth plates or bones still growing. Since Loki’s case is severe, there’s a good chance this won’t fix the issue and they will have to do more surgeries to alter the bone once he is full grown. However, we can’t wait until then because he is starting to compensate for the pain by putting all his weight on his front legs and arching his back. His front legs have already started to bow and with time it will only get worse, including potential spine issues. So, we have no choice but to proceed with this surgery and pray for the absolute best.

I am asking for help in any way. I have fought with our pet insurance company who won’t cover his condition because they state you have to hold a policy for 6 months before they will contribute to this condition. He was only 5 months when he got diagnosed so they refuse to assist. We are going to have a long road ahead of us with Loki, starting with this surgery at 6 months, rehab, potential additional surgeries. If you are able to contribute ANYTHING, $1, please, anything will help us. My heart breaks every day for our little guy and I just want him to get fixed and live the life every puppy deserves. THANK YOU !!!!!